O2S goals are high-level descriptions of conditions to be satisfied by the assembly of software components. A goal is parameterized, like a generic procedure call; unlike a procedure call, however, it is divorced from any particular implementation. The implementation is heuristically chosen from a database of matching techniques, each of which specifies an alternative implementation strategy.
Each goal is uniquely identified by a URI pointing to an XML specification. Currently the specifications are primitive, serving primarily as tokens to uniquely identify goals. The intention is for them to evolve to a rich mix of documentation, including formal specifications, man page style informal description, test and demonstration code, etc.
| Specification | Description |
|---|---|
| signal ( Person user , int importance ) | A signal goal tries to get the attention of a user. |
| teleconference ( Person person1 , Person person2 , int importance ) | A teleconference connects two Oxygen users so that they may communicate. |